MiG-31 to Get Fifth-Generation Upgrades; to be able to detect and defeat stealth planes

MiG-31 to Get Fifth-Generation Upgrades

Modernized MiG-31 interceptors will be fit to take on fifth-generation aircraft, according to chief commander of the Russian Air Force Alexander Zelin. He said that fifth-generation technology would be used when modernizing the planes, which will increase their military value by 1.5-4 times, depending on the nature of their task.

Modernized MiG-31 models will be able to strike a target at a distance of 200 km. Thanks to new radar and missiles, it will be able to detect and defeat stealth planes and low-altitude cruise missiles at greater distances. The MiG-31 will remain in use as a long-distance radar plane to manage the flights of other types of fighter jets, Zelin added.

www.kommersant.com...

Perhaps the role specific AESA radars and extended BVRAAMS that Russia has been working on will be thrown in ...

This ought to give the Mig-31 a much needed lease of life and help it claim its rightful position as a top notch interceptor.

[edit on 28/7/07 by Stealth Spy]

Originally posted by Stealth Spy
Perhaps the role specific AESA radars and extended BVRAAMS that Russia has been working on will be thrown in ...

You're quite right. The R-37 (AKA AA-X-13 Arrow because NATO is too lazy to pronounce it the way it's spelled )is being fitted for the MiG-31M Foxhounds. There's already been a short discussion on this sucker, but it's a BVRAAM with 300 km, high speed intercepts with targets. It's currently made for AWACS-bashing and other high-priority targets, but I would suspect that the new radars on Foxhounds would give them the capability to strike any air targets at extreme range.

This ought to give the Mig-31 a much needed lease of life and help it claim its rightful position as a top notch interceptor.


I'm also tempted to say as the interceptor. I can't think of any dedicated interceptors in the current inventories since the F-14 Tomcat was retired. Of course, that's likely because I'm stupid. Raptor is air superiority, Super Hornet is CAS, etc. There's really no other high-speed interceptors that are dedicated interceptors. That I can immediately think of.

One capability I would like to bring to thought with the upgrades being equipped to the Foxhound is the capability for standoff designated target strikes. If the RuAF happened to have a skirmish including a couple (just for the sake of an example) F-18E/F Super Hornets taking on a couple Su-35s, both sides using AWACS support, we might have a nifty possibility for the Russians. The close support and target designation by the AWACS could be beamed to a MiG-31M quick-response group allowing for some really nasty strikes using the R-37. I mean, have you seen the target speed for that thing? Mach 6! Even over 300 km, you have 2 minutes from launch before it slams into you. The time frame for successful chaffing would be infinitesimal, the only option would likely be to fly into a canyon or something. Even then, the Foxhound will probably be at high-altitude, so only extreme low flight behind a cliff will do much.

Still, it's only a theoretical scenario and you never know how a real situation will react from theoretical data.

[edit on 7/28/2007 by Darkpr0]

Hmm, this is not good for the US at all. While I'm sure its at a reduced range, I am also sure that these claims are accurate. What I am not sure about is if that range is still outside the range of the AIM-120D. If it is, than the US really has no counter to it right now.

hmmm... because the ruskies said so...so it must be truth... they no all the classified info in regards to the F22... I wouldnt bet the whole farm on that assertion.

In the artical it states:

it will be able to detect and defeat stealth planes and low-altitude cruise missiles at greater distances.

.
At greater distances. I'm sure the radar in the plane is amazing and all... but it's not superman, and infact, any radar can detect the F-22... IF close enough.

[edit on 29-7-2007 by C0bzz]

That whole article is very carefully worded and in some instances pretty funny as well. To try and state something from the officials words and indeed to create a thread with such a title is not only intellectually dishonest but meaningless as well.

While the F22 would properly be able to take it down before the Mig31 can take it down if in a head to head combat. However this plane turns into a awacs killer deluxe. If the awacs is done then the F22 will still be stealthy and all but it wont know where the Mig31 or whatever is. Thus because its most likely not headed directly for the the Mig31 it can then be dectected at much greater distances.

and also when the su-47 berkut enters service it is also equipped with one of these radars

and heard it will have plasma stealth.and since the mig 31 is a fastinterceptor it will be a awacs destroyer


[edit on 11-8-2007 by SW phsyco]

The russian airforce are masters of bending the truth. And to freely admit an aircrafts capabilities seems either incredibly brazen, or remarkedly silly (assuming accuracy within the article).
And when they say "able to detect stealth" do they simply mean they have a system that is less likely to ignore objects with a lower RCS ?

Originally posted by SW phsyco
and also when the su-47 berkut enters service it is also equipped with one of these radars

and heard it will have plasma stealth.and since the mig 31 is a fastinterceptor it will be a awacs destroyer

Su-47 Berkut will not enter service, it was only a prototype technology demonstrator (alongside the Mikoyan Product 1.44) as a precursor to PAK-FA, which will be produced.

And plasma stealth, although rumoured to have been successfully tested by the Russians, still isn't in proven existence, nor is it scheduled for the MiG-31.

Originally posted by tomcat ha
While the F22 would properly be able to take it down before the Mig31 can take it down if in a head to head combat. However this plane turns into a awacs killer deluxe. If the awacs is done then the F22 will still be stealthy and all but it wont know where the Mig31 or whatever is. Thus because its most likely not headed directly for the the Mig31 it can then be dectected at much greater distances.

What are you talking about? The F-22 carries an ENORMOUS radar and is FULLY capable of detecting the enormous MiG-31 especially when datalinking with other aircraft. It doesnt need awacs, its simply an advantage.

Blackwidow is right. The F-22 has operated as an AWACS in exercises, for other F-22s, and even F-15s and -16s. You don't get the range or resolution at range that you would with an E-3, but it's certainly good enough to pick up a MiG-31, or any other fighter operating in the area of the F-22. And it has the benefit of being much harder to detect than an E-3 radar. On a side note, at the shorter ranges that it's designed to work in, it's actually BETTER than an E-3 radar for tracks resolution.

[edit on 8/11/2007 by Zaphod58]

If an F-18 with an APG-79 can shoot down a F-22, then a MiG-31 with new AESA radar can also.

[edit on 12-8-2007 by YASKY]

An F-18 with an APG-79, at knife fighting range. Which no one has ever said the F-22 is invulnerable at WVR ranges. It's BVR that makes it so deadly.

Who cares... next fighter generation has full stealth functionallity and anti-gravity.

Originally posted by YASKY
If an F-18 with an APG-79 can shoot down a F-22, then a MiG-31 with new AESA radar can also.

Why do you keep brining this up? I have already proven to you that incident had nothing to do with avionics and everything to do with unrealistic circumstance. It was a neutral merge (dog fight) with a "clean" Super Hornet who's driver violated T/R and risked mid air collision to get two frames on the Raptor, not enough for a kill. The F-22 driver did not act so reckresly and yet would have still creamed the Super Hornet on the return pass. The Mig-31 can neither "dog fight" or challenge the Raptor in the air.